Todd is God

Whilst I have been a member and a fan of the Aime Street site (just got a revamp) for a couple of years, I have to confess I had not bought anything for a while. But, then, the other day when one of the weekly update emails hit my inbox I caught a glimpse of the names Weezer and Liz Phair. Hang on, I thought. I like Weezer, and I LOVE Liz Phair. The mentions were from a description of a new york band called The Knees What the hell, I thought, let's give them a go -so I logged in and downloaded their album ' Sexual Radio ' What an enjoyable, fun, record. I'll go as far as to say that when it works - as it does on tracks such as 'The Kind of Girl' (a hit single in the making), 'Loser Girlfriend', Sick of being Stoned, and 'Can't Stop Now' it is Wonderful. So, is the Weezer/Phair comparison fair? There are certainly elements. I can see why people might mention Wheatus, The Donnas, and a few others as well. Not that this should stop you from ch...

I felt a brief post was needed on the latest albums by AC/DC and Motorhead. The New album from AC/DC - 'Black Ice', which is currently giving them their first number one album in the UK in 18 years, is currently being hailed as a return to form - with some even claiming it to be their best work since Brian Johnson's first album as singer, the classic 'Back in Black'. The last AC/DC album I bought, was 'Flick of the Switch', when I was about 14. I loved it. I then started to loose interest in Angus and Co, and when I returned to listen to the album around 5 years ago, I discovered that it is pretty piss poor. I sampled a few of their outings since then, and was equally underwhelmed. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the new record does actually contain their best work in 25 years or more. Indeed, I would venture to sat that it could have been even better if they had edited a bit better. There are 15 tracks on this new record, and if I has been doing...

Take one slightly mad French woman, add a 50/50 anglo/french crowd, sit back and enjoy. Whilst I own both Camille's solo albums, I must confess, I was unsure as to whether the experience of seeing her live would be a good one or not. I need not have feared. Live, Camille is - in all senses of the word - quite extraordinary. Backed by just a piano, four backing singers, and two guys doing human beat-box accompaniment for drums/bass/guitar - this was an enhanced acappella experience to savour and enjoy. It was one of those odd nights when, her actual set was only one hour long, but she then managed to eek out another hour on stage in the encore - which features some good and some bad improv, featuring Jamie Cullum. Camille's humour came through well on songs such as, the very silly (but great crowd participation song) 'Cats & Dogs'; and 'Money Note' (where she takes a dig at Mariah and co). Also, she is happy to throw in a Dead Kennedy's cover she original...

Just over a year ago I went to see the Scorpions for the first time in 17 years, and surprised myself by having a fantastic time - not least because ex guitarist Uli Roth joined the band on stage to play a handful of their old songs. A year on, and the same tour is winding down but now Uli was coming over as alternating support act with Michael Schenker - who this time last year was so smacked out of his head most of the time, that even the basic ability to stand up whilst playing live was proving difficult. Knowing that, I was pleased to find out that London was going to be an Uli gig. He played 5 songs - three from his new album, top and tailed with Scorpions classics: 'The Sails of Charon' and 'We'll burn the sky' - both off the, now 30 year old, 'Taken by Force' album. It was a great way to kick off the night and Uli's guitar playing was as excellent as you would expect it to be. And then the Scorps came on, and once again a great hard rock sing-a-lo...

Another year, another Aimee Mann gig. 15 months after her last visit to the 02 Indigo, Mann was back to plug her latest album - '@#%&*! Smilers'. Opening with set with 'Stranger into starman' and 'Looking for nothing', tonight's set-list was certainly new album heavy, but the new songs - on the whole sounded as good , if not better in the live environment. Thankfully there was also room in the set for some older numbers such as 'Red Vines', 'Deathly', 'How am I Different', 'Wise Up' For someone who always used to say she didn't really do inbetween songs chit-chat very well, Mann now excels in doing it, and does so with wit and charm - no more so than when she was having some early technical issues and also during her attempts to remember how to play 'Mr Harris' (an audience suggestion) - a track off her debit solo album - 'Whatever'. For me however, it was another song off that album that was my gig hig...